4 JULY 1891, Page 9

Mr. Fowler on Monday moved an instruction to the Com-

mittee on the Free Education Bill, to make Provision, "in the case of districts where there is no school under public control," for the introduction of "the principle of local repre- sentation in the supervision of schools receiving fee-grants." He said that of the four and a half millions required for the maintenance of Voluntary schools, only one million is con- tributed by the subscribers ; and he vehemently opposed the precedent of handing over so much public money as this implies to managers of a strictly denominational character. He quoted from the very violent anti-Dissenting catechism which in Wednesday's debate was admitted to be by the Rev. F. A. Gace, Vicar of Great Barling, in Essex, to show how vehemently sectarian in spirit some of the Church schools are. The catechism, it is said, has gone through twelve editions, and is used in several parts of the country where the Church spirit is strong and narrow. The Archbishop of Canterbury has more than once protested against its spirit.